High precision tool positioner devices are known in the prior art. However, the piezoelectric drivers of the prior art devices have not completely satisfied the requirements of high precision machine tool applications. For example, certain devices of the prior art have not been sufficiently free from temperature effects to satisfy all of the requirements of precision machine tool designers. In addition, the displacement available from prior art positioners has been insufficient to provide a practical range of displacements for machining. Further, not all tool positioners of the prior art have been capable of providing sufficiently fine displacement control, and resolution is particularly important when employing feedback, to eliminate hysteresis. Yet further, not all tool positioners of the prior art have been capable of precision operation at sufficiently high cyclic rates to satisfy the requirements of precision machine tool designers. This is important because speed, or response, is the most critical requirement.
What is needed is a faster response high precision positioner.